CHAPTER XXV 288

The Melancholy King—The Portents of the Storm—The Ambition of Madame Louise Quatorze—The Farrier of Provence—The Ghost in the Wood—Ninon’s Objection—The King’s Conscience—A Dreary Court—Racine’s Slip of the Tongue—The Passing of a Great Poet, and a Busy Pen Laid Down.